1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lock arm equipped in an electric connector to connect the electric connector to another electric connector, and further to an electric connector including the lock arm, to be used for electrical connection between devices equipped in an automobile or various industrial machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-135751 discloses an electric connector including a lock arm, a releaser formed at a rear end of the lock arm, and a support portion flexible enough to extend in a front-rear direction between the lock arm and a female housing. In the electric connector, the lock arm is connected to the support portion at a location closer to a front end of the support portion than a rear end of the support portion, ensuring that the lock arm and the support portion can be arranged in a smaller space above the female housing relative to an electric connector having a lock arm connected to a support portion at a location closer to a rear end of the support portion than a front end of the support portion, and thus, the female connector can be down-sized.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-30323 discloses an electric connector including a lock arm, an engagement hook to be engaged with an engagement hole formed at a connector housing, and a lock releaser for releasing the engagement hook from the engagement hole when the lock arm is pushed towards a rear of the housing beyond the engagement hook, a fulcrum located closer to a rear end being positioned closer to the engagement hook than a fulcrum located at a front end in a direction opposite to a direction in which the engagement hook extends.
FIG. 8A illustrates an example of a conventional lock arm formed on an upper surface of a female housing.
The illustrated conventional lock arm 51 includes a lock arm body 52, a front leg 53 supporting a front edge of the lock arm body 52, a rear leg 54 supporting a rear end of the lock arm body 52 on the upper surface of a female housing 50, a lock 55 to be locked with a lock unit of a male housing (not illustrated), and a releaser 56 for releasing the lock 55 from the lock of the male housing.
In the lock arm 51 illustrated in FIG. 8A, the releaser 56 is pushed downwardly in order to release the lock 55 from the lock unit of the male housing. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, the lock arm body 52 is deformed with the front leg 53 and the rear leg 54 both acting as fulcrums. As illustrated in FIG. 8C, the lock arm body 52 is deformed until the lock arm body 52 makes contact at a lower surface thereof with an upper surface of the female housing 50, resulting in that the lock 55 is released from the lock unit of the male housing.
In the conventional lock arm 51, since the lock arm body 52 is deformed only by a force exerted on the releaser 56, it is necessary to move the releaser 56 downwardly to a great extent to release the lock 55 from the lock unit of the male housing. Accordingly, the conventional lock arm 51 has a problem in that a large space is required between the lower surface of the lock arm body 52 and the upper surface of the female housing 50, which increases the height of the electric connector including the conventional lock arm 51.